Wellness and help-seeking among college students: A phenomenological study

ABSTRACT

College students face a significant risk of mental health issues that influence their academic performance, persistence, and personal safety. The COVID-19 global pandemic has heightened mental health risks for college students due to social isolation and shifts from in-person to virtual learning models. In 2019 and the beginning of 2020, 75% of college students reported experiencing moderate to high stress levels, yet only 30.2% of students indicated they used mental health services (ACHA, 2020). Researchers have identified strategies to promote positive mental health among students (Baldwin et al., 2017;Conley et al., 2013;Mahfoutz et al., 2018;Rizer et al., 2016), yet have paid little attention to the experiences, thought processes, and factors that influence how or why students choose to utilize such strategies. This phenomenological study explored the essence of the lived experiences of college students who have experienced stressors during their time as students with the goal to understand how they chose to seek help and promote their wellness. Three research questions will guide this study (1) How do college students describe the essence of their personal wellness? (2) How do college students describe the stressors they have experienced during their undergraduate years? and (3) What guides college students' decision-making about how they support their wellness on campus?Gergen's (1985) work on social constructionism, which encourages us to consider how we know and understand the world beyond commonly held assumptions, provides the key theoretical concepts that influence this study. Three streams further inform the study of research (1) conceptualizations of wellness, (2) college student development, and (3) wellness support. The researcher conducted individual interviews with traditional undergraduates at an institution of higher education in the Northeastern United States. students also submitted artifacts with written explanations representing their experience of wellness in response to stress. The interviews were transcribed, and several rounds of coding were conducted to identify common elements of the students' experiences. The participants' stories, experiences, and motivation offer insight into how higher education practitioners might incorporate or promote wellness strategies in ways that align with students' needs and interests. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)